Appetizing Blend Fills Cheese Plate

With Phish either temporarily mothballed or permanently retired -- depending on which rumor you believe -- the world of jam-band rock has suddenly found itself without a big band.

The Allman Brothers? When was the last time they put out a decent studio CD?

Dave Matthews? Too big, too slick, too poppy. At least lately.

Leftover Salmon? Building, but not big enough yet.

Gov't Mule? Not enough smart people in the world.

Truth is, these days a lot of people are looking at The String Cheese Inci- dent -- five guys from Colorado whose music sounds like a big hug -- to step into the gap.

And why not? Over the course of five CDs in six years -- and up to 250 shows each year -- the band has merged a feel-good stew of many things (rock, bluegrass, reggae, fusion jazz, world beat and funk) into a playful, happy whole.

Add covers of folks like Bob Marley, Bob Dylan and, yep, the Grateful Dead themselves, plus a roadtrip-happy, show-taping fanbase, and you have a band that looks poised to go from very big (which they are, especially in Denver and all points west) to huge.

The kicker? This is not their goal. At all.

"We don't feel that way," says keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth. "There's definitely an assumption that somebody is going to step up, be it Phil Lesh and Friends or us. But we're just riding what we have going on -- we just want to play the best we can, and we hope people will respect it for what it is."

And what it is is an awfully good time. The jams are long, the fans dance and whirl and often have a delightful, love-your-neighbor charm, and the band is enjoying multiple-night runs in many cities as it tours behind its latest CD, Outside Inside -- a tour that will bring the band to Hard Rock Live at Universal CityWalk April 24.

Hollingsworth says the new CD marks a departure for the band, which also includes acoustic guitarist Bill Nershi, guitarist/mandolinist Michael Kang, drummer Michael Travis and bassist Keith Mosely.

For all their long, freewheeling concert improvisations, he says, SCI is a bunch of studio perfectionists, guys who would take a week or more on a single track and still wonder if they couldn't do better.

Enter Los Lobos saxophonist Steve Berlin, who is the polar opposite.

"We decided it was time to see if it was a good or bad experience to work with a producer -- it was very good," says Hollingsworth. "He's like a sixth member of the band -- who can make decisions. Before, we'd do songs 500 times, and some people wanted an organic record and some people wanted to do a Pink Floyd record.

"With Steve, we came in the first day, set up, did a song -- and that was it. We were like, `Can't we do it again?' and he was like, `Nope, that's it -- move on.' He helped us focus more -- and live that's meant more letting go onstage and enjoying the moment."